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| Pride on display at home: my armorial flag of the Medieval Academy of America Flag and photograph by the Author. |
It's honestly rather hard to believe it almost as it is saying it--I presented a research paper before The Medieval Academy of America's (MAA) centennial conference at Harvard. Those previous words fail to adequately describe the emotions and sense of belonging I felt while attending MAA's conference last week at Harvard.
Some 500 medieval scholars from around the world gathered on the campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts for three day conference in celebration of the MAA's 100th year since its founding in 1925.
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| Branded conference swag proudly displaying MAA's coat of arms in full color |
My involvement with MAA began when I discovered that my research muse, Pierre de Chaignon la Rose (1872-1941) designed the Academy's coat of arms in 1927. As far as I knew, MAA did not have any updated digital assets of their arms, let alone any in full color. Since heraldry is meant to be seen in full color, I commissioned a fellow digital heraldic artist in Europe to correct this injustice.
Now that I'm somewhat competent with digital illustration, I've since rendered my own version of MAA's arms and sent to them for use. MAA's armorial flag seen at the top is my version that I had made into a 3ft x 5ft flag in the style la Rose would have likely used if a flag had been commissioned from him. Stretching the sun's rays to the edges really makes the whole image look stunning as flag.
The arms seen above adorning conference merch were the commissioned version.
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| Sever Hall at Harvard Yard served as one of several principal buildings hosting the Academy's conference |
Sever Hall on Harvard's campus was one of the principal buildings hosting presentations during the conference. My session was on Sever's third floor. Much to my surprise and delight, Sever's classrooms have actual chalk boards hanging inside these hallowed laboratories of learning. I don't know why, but observing this ancient pedagogical tool still alive and in use really impressed me. While the space had fully updated audio/visual technology, the chalkboards harkened back to that age I remember in elementary and middle school.
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| Chalkboards in Sever Hall's classrooms |
My presentation, "From Battlefields to Beer Steins: Devising Heraldic Identity for Select US Academic Institutions," focused on the 11 institutions in the US that either received a grant or devisal of arms from the College of Arms in London.
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| Title slide |
I rendered each coat of arms in Adobe Illustrator so that I could help my audience visualize how the heralds in London created unique identification for these select academic institutions. Now, to have all 11 arms in the same shape, full color, and done in my style is quite rare. I'm holding back from posting all those arms for now, as I plan to submit a journal article for publication which will include those arms.
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| Coat of arms of The College of William & Mary Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2025 |
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| For fun, the impaled arms of Harvard and the Medieval Academy of America to help celebrate the centennial in true heraldic fashion Concept and rendering by Chad Krouse, 2025 |
The session and my presentation, I thought, went well especially when scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on a Friday. During the Q&A, I was surprised to see a lot of interest in la Rose and his work. I used la Rose's designs created for Calhoun College at Yale, Harvard Law, and Kirkland House at Harvard as examples of the power corporate heraldry holds in displaying institutional identity--all three coats of arms were retired in the 21st century.
All in all, I had a great three days in Cambridge and simply over the moon about having participated in the conference. I receive a lot of affirmation and motivation from opportunities such as this, to continue on with my journey exploring la Rose's work and US corporate heraldry.
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| Spotted: Harvard's arms on a university bus in Cambridge |
For now, though, I need a break!
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